Feb. 1887.] 



AKD OOLOGIST. 



25 



At this time there were probably eight or ten 

 nests in different stages of composition, but 

 none of them contained eggs. About tliree 

 weeivs later, on the I'ith of June, in comi)an}' 

 with a fi'iend I again visited the locality. The 

 birds were still there; one of them, probably the 

 male, singing constantly, and flying restlessly 

 from one spot to another. After searching the 

 whole ground over, and examining twenty or 

 more nests, we at last came upon the right one 

 in a bunch of tall Calanuis, containing six eggs. 

 Five of these were well advanced; the sixth 

 perfectly fresh. 



It is possil)l(' that there might have been two 

 or more {)airs of these birds in the swamj), as it 

 seems almost incredible (hat a, single pair of 

 them could construct so many nests; but I 

 could not tindany more birds. 



This set of eggs was a typical one of the 

 Long-billed Marsh Wren, though probably 

 somewhat darker than the average. The nest 

 was composed niainlyof (;oarse blades of grass 

 (tussock) woven in with th<' leaves of the Cal- 

 anuis, and lined with pieces of dead leaves, a 

 few feathers and other soft material. It hung 

 about eighteen inches above the water, and was 

 by no means a conspicuous object. 



liJarkaml mdte Creeper {MnioUUa varin.) An- 

 other sjiecies that our Chester County lists have 

 correctly rei-ogiuzed as a common migrant 

 but never as a summer resident, is the Black and 

 White (Jreeper. Kecently however I had infor- 

 mation that a nest and eggs of this species had 

 been taken in our County, and upon investiga- 

 tion learned that Mr. W. S. Everett, of Willis- 

 town Township, was the fortunate discovei-er 

 of this the first set of eggs ever taken here. 



Mr. Everett, though <iuite a young ornitholo- 

 gist, made his find doubly sure, l)y seciu-ing the 

 female, and carefidly preserving the nest — all of 

 which he has kindly loaned to me, together with 

 complete data. 



The eggs, foui- in number, have a ground col- 

 or of pure white, but are so thickly covered with 

 rich brown markings, mingled at the greater 

 end with blotches of a dark lilac hi; ;, as to al- 

 most hide the white, and to give them a strong 

 resemblance to a lightly marked set of the Pro- 

 thonolory warbler {I'rotimntaria citraa.) They 

 ditter however in not having the bright, glossy 

 surface of the eggs of that species. The meas- 

 urements of the four eggs are .(>8x.i")2; .()Sx..">;i ; 

 .rOx.-W; and .(i7x.5;^. 



The nest was placed at the foot of a dead 

 stump, sheltered by protecting nooks, though 

 open above, and without cover. It was slightly 



imbedded in the ground, and its base was com- 

 posed of dry leaves. 



The entire outside is constructed of long strips 

 of grape-vine bark, wound around it. The in- 

 side lining is of horse hair, and hog bristles. 

 The cup of the nest is quite large for the bird. 



The location of the nest was on a hillsid*; cov- 

 ered with a small growth of Chestnut and Span- 

 ish oak. 



More recently I have had additional evidence' 

 that the Black and White Creeper is a i-egular 

 though rare breeder here. 



On the Gth of June, of last year, while 

 exploring some of the North Valley hills in 

 company with two of my friends, a nest con- 

 taining five young, about one week old, was 

 found liy one of the gentlemen with me. It 

 was similar in every respect of location and 

 construction to the one taken by Mr. Everett. 

 The female was around feeding the young while 

 we watched her near by, showing but little 

 alarm at our piesence. Later in the day we 

 saw another pair feeding a brood of young 

 that were just able to fiy from bush to bush. 



It would seem that they breed earlier than 

 most of our Warlders. The eggs of tliese two 

 l)airs must have been laid by the middle of 

 May. 



Virginia Hail. {Ballus Vinjiuianus) — This 

 bird has heretofore been considered a very rare 

 summer resident in Chester County. 



This season a number of nests have been 

 found, and I am inclined to think that its al- 

 leged rarity has been due more to a lack of thor- 

 ough search for it in proper localities, than to 

 any great scarcity of the si)ecies. The nests 

 are extremely difticult to find, placed as they 

 generally are in the very midst of a swamp, 

 concealed entirely by tussocks and reeds. The 

 female rarely remains on until the nest is reach- 

 ed. The nest is generally a bunch of di-ied 

 leaves of the reed of tussock gra«s — sometimes 

 being so fiat as to scarcely keep the eggs from 

 rolling out. Other nests are nuich hollower and 

 evince a greater degree of skill in construction. 



A set of nine eggs taken by the writer on the 

 second day of June, ISSd, average in si/e 1.2.')x 

 .(i.'{. They are of dull white, sparingly spotted 

 with a rich brown, heaviest at the large end. 

 A set of eleven eggs was also found in the lo- 

 cality on the same date. 



Senor Juan Ilenardo is now exploring the 

 country contigent to the Ama/on in Brazil, 

 where he will be joined by Dr. NorthiU]» in 

 early Si)ring. Both of these gentlemen are col- 

 lecting for Mr. F. II. Carpenter. 



